Business for Writers

We writers know the power of words to influence others. I can attest to that working on a political level for fifteen years in the communications field in provincial government. I saw how various letter writing campaigns influenced government ministers to consider, reconsider or revise policy decisions.

We also know that the issue of copyright is so important for all writers and artists, and a simple letter could make all the difference.

Below, we share with you the latest update from Access Copyright, sent out to all Access Copyright members on August 14, about the parliamentary review of the Copyright Act, and how you can help. Please read, share and submit your story to the members of the review committee. It matters for all writers and visual artists…including you!

Access Copyright Makes its Submission for the Copyright Act Review

Last month, Access Copyright made its official submission to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for the Copyright Act review.

The submission details how creators and publishers have been severely impacted by the actions of the education sector following the passage of the Copyright Modernization Act in 2012 which included the addition of “education” as an allowable purpose under fair dealing.

1. Amend the fair dealing exception to distinguish between individual and institutional copying. We recommend amending the Copyright Act so that fair dealing for the purposes of research, private study and education would not apply to educational institutions in situations where works are “commercially available” by either a rightsholder or collective within a reasonable time and for a reasonable price and may be located with reasonable effort. This would help facilitate teachable moments without adverse consequences to rightsholders, while also bringing Canada in line with models in other countries such as the U.K. and Australia.

2. Take immediate action to harmonize the statutory damages available to collectives as part of the current efforts to reform the Copyright Board of Canada. Doing so will deter infringement, encourage settlement and, in line with one of the key goals of the reform to the Board, “will ensure creators to get paid properly and on line.”

How to get involved in the Copyright Act review

Here are two actions you can quickly take to ensure the momentum that creators and publishers have built in having their concerns heard by policy makers will continue.

Make a submission to the Industry Committee: The Committee welcomes submissions from individuals and businesses. A one-page letter outlining how your income, career or business has been impacted will help reinforce how Canadian creators and publishers have been affected by the 2012 changes to the Act.

Take Action via I Value Canadian Stories: If you haven’t already, please visit IValueCanadianStories.ca to send your letter to the Committee members conducting the Copyright Act review. You can also engage your friends and social-media followers to take part as well.

Every action you take makes a difference.

Important Dates

August 31 – The deadline for publisher affiliate to submit a claim for this year’s publisher repertoire payment.

November 1 – The deadline for event-grant applications for the Access Copyright Foundation. The application package will be available soon on the Foundation website.

November – Payback payments will be distributed to creator affiliates.

December – Publisher Repertoire payments will be distributed to publisher affiliates who submitted a claim by August 31.

In Pinterest for Fiction Writers Part 1 we explored how Pinterest can help you as a writer while you are writing. But of course, there is the other side to writing: selling the book! Pinterest can help there too. (Note: If you are not sure what terminology like “boards” and “re-pinning” mean, please read Part 1 first.)

Why consider Pinterest for sales?

Monthly active Pinterest users numbered 175 million (75 million in the USA.)

93% are women

2 million shopping pins are saved daily

Millennials use Pinterest as much as Instagram

Pinterest drives more referral traffic to websites than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined.

Nearly 85% of Pinterest searches happen on mobile devices

One of the reasons I prefer Pinterest is that what you post is always there, easily found and well-organized. You don’t spend time creating a post that disappears into a long news-feed and may never be seen, like on Facebook and Twitter.

Two kinds of Pinterest accounts

Pinterest offers registration as either a personal user or a business user. Both are free.

A personal account allows you to create boards and pin to them. You can also pin from other people’s boards and send to other people’s boards, social media accounts, and email.

If you have a business account, you can additionally:

place links on your website to take people to your page on Pinterest

get visitor analytics and what they’re looking at the most

use rich pins to let users do special stuff with the content on your website or Pinterest page, and add prices to your images.

The right Pinterest mindset

Pinterest is not a point of sale. It drives people to click through to your website or to Amazon or wherever your point of sale is. It’s great for building an author presence, (see how below) but never lose sight of the fact that your end goal is sales!

But, and it’s a BIG BUT, like all other social media platforms, avoid incessant self-promotion. The immediate goal is for vistors to pin and then to click through.

Pinterest is a quieter, more subtle platform where sales are made indirectly by building trust, loyalty and engagement. On Pinterest you express yourself through images. So if you want to showcase a review of your book you’ll have to make a visual for it.

Also remember that most pins are re-pins, so if you provide original content, pinners will happily spread it for you. Just give them a good visual with a few, repeat few, words that hook them and you’re on your way.

Become a Business Author

I’m a personal pinner and I have over 60 boards covering all my hobbies, dreams, and plans. Some are general: gardening; art; books I recommend. But there are also more personal boards: my daughter’s wedding; things I want to do with the grandkids; travel plans and of course, unpublished book boards.

When selling your book, you don’t want your efforts buried in clutter and you want to be accessible but stay professional. The best way is to register as a separate author persona with a business account. Use your name, and simple add “author”: Jane Doe, author. And just like Twitter and Facebook, a decent head shot and succinct profile that sells you and your products is a must. Notice in the author page below that Rachel Thompson has 6,000 followers and 22,100 monthly viewers. Wow!

What boards could I create?

You can still have multiple boards, but keep them associated with the book or you as an author. In a business account, Pinterest allows you to have “featured boards” and “latest pins” that show up when you first go to the Pinterest page.

Remember sales is the goal, so make sure to put links to your sales page/s whenever you can. You can put them in your profile, in the description portion of your images, and add the URL to images you create.

Here are a selection of boards to consider:

Boards about the book

The book/s.

Create a separate board for each book you want to sell. Pin pictures of the cover, back page blurb, reviews, and enticements to read excerpts. Link all the images to your sales page and where appropriate put prices on your images. In the image below, notice that Carla Laureano has 8 separate book boards. (She also has her website URL prominently displayed and a URL to a free book in her profile)

Behind the book/s

Glimpses into the book in the making: pictures or quotes that inspired your characters, settings etc. (all poached from your initial vision board.) Cover choices that didn’t make the cut. Characters and/or excerpts that didn’t make the book. Story boards, notes.

Special offers

Freebies, contests. New book ideas: Invite people to post pictures of what the villain could look like, or what kind of car the protagonist might drive. Give a free book to the winner when the book is done. In the board below, 75 authors collaborate on this board to offer giveaways. The board appears like this on each of their pages.

Boards about the author

About the author

You can get personal here or stay all business; it’s up to you. You can cover how you got started writing, your mentors, your writing resume, your future plans, your passions, causes you support, hobbies and views on life.

Events

Reading and signing events (use your photos and posters as the visual); conferences, guest posts, speaking engagements, workshops you’re giving; TV, print or radio interviews. Again add links in the description portion of the pin.

Fan club

More photos of happy fans holding your book; book club group shots; quotes from fans or fan letters. Tag people using the @ sign in your pin descriptions (tagging in Pinterest works similarly to Facebook.) Plus, other people can pin things to your page (if you allow them to become “contributors” to a particular board), which encourages more sharing and interaction.

Behind the scenes

Pictures of you writing, your cork board of favourite inspirational quotes etc, your waste basket of discarded scenes, the view from your window, your cat lying on your keyboard. Let your public see you as the person behind the book.

Boards that support the content of your book/s

Topic boards

If your book features a mental health issue, have a board about that mental health issue; if your books are Georgian romance, boards of all things 18th century would be of interest to your readers.

Books you recommend

Can be in your genre only, or anything you recommend. Alternatively, have a board about “reading now” or “my to-be-read list.”

Related activities

If you have written a kids book, have companion boards for teachers or parents or libraries.

Any other book-related topics

Libraries you love. Book stores you recommend. Books you loved as a child. Quotes from writers ……..

And there’s more

Once you’ve created your Pinterest author account, don’t forget to grow your audience by adding a Pinterest Follow button on your website so people can follow your Pinterest account from your website.

You’ll also need to brush up on some of the technical stuff, all of which could warrant a separate blog post, but there’s plenty of help out there. Here are a few links to get you started.

My favourite procrastination tool is Pinterest, but unlike my next favourite procrastination tool, Solitaire, it actually serves many useful purposes for a writer.

What is Pinterest?

Think of Pinterest as an infinite digital corkboard. On your “corkboard”, you have visual topic collection files called BOARDS for your PINS. Pins are visual web links that take you to the source of the information you are pinning (magazine article, blog, website, youtube video etc.). If you pin someone else’s pin (greatly encouraged) you are RE-PINNING. A person who has a Pinterest account (it’s free) with a collection of boards is called a PINNER.

Pins don’t have to be only informational text.. You can pin pictures, infographics, videos, photos and all kinds of ideas and inspiration. You can make your board public or secret. You can be social or not as you choose. (I choose not.)

Best of all, you can search by topic and define whether you are looking for a pin, a board, or a person. For example, I can search for all pins on “plot”, or all boards on “writing tips” or all people for “mystery author”.

If you download a “pin button” to your browser search toolbar, you can pin from anywhere you go on the internet including your own photos if they are in the cloud.

Novel vision boards

When beginning a novel, I create a board with my novel’s working title and pin images of possible characters, buildings, period dress, geographic details like birds or plants or places. Later I can add research links, newspaper cuttings, quotes, cover ideas, relevant books to read or anything else that might inspire or inform me.

I can even create sections within my board. For my mystery novel “Pyes and Ivy” I have sections for my characters, my town “Riverton” and the B&B where the action takes place “Ivy Lodge”.I find having the visual helps me keep things consistent.

Novel development boards

Of course, not every aspect of your novel has to be on one board. (You are allowed up to 500 boards and 200,000 pins). So let’s say you are working on your villain. You can create a board just for him/her. Get writing tips on writing villains. Get quotes from or about villains. Get ideas for names, motivations, and personality traits.

Rinse and repeat with other characters or setting or events…..

The craft

And when you have characters, you need an arc for them and a story arc too. Pinterest gives you access to loads of free printable worksheets for every aspect of planning your novel. Ditto for articles on “how to…” and “tips on …”

Looking for another way to describe hair colour? Words to use instead of “amazing”. Pinterest has pins for that. Also pins for commonly misused words, when to use what kind of hyphen, and avoiding clichés—including cliché characters.

Motivation

I have a board called “Words to write by”. It’s full of inspirational and kick-in-the-pants quotes. A quick visit there when I’m feeling like my writing is crap or I’m getting nowhere usually gets me going again. And let’s not forget the hundreds of writing prompts—visual and text; story starters and what ifs.

If you like to be social, you can follow other pinners, join group boards or comment on pins. There are even hilarious “Pinterest Fail” pins.

Making money.

Once you have a book to sell there are great ways to sell it on Pinterest. It’s the up and coming social media market place. But that’s a whole other blog. Stay tuned for Pinterest for Fiction Writers Part 2.

I recently attended a celebration of local authors in Ontario’s cottage country. Aptly named Kaleidoscope, the book sales event offered a wide range of styles and published works for readers. Intriguing mysteries, fantasies for all ages, beautiful photography collections, wildlife explorations, compelling memoirs and biographies, and children’s picture books filled huge dining tables on two floors of the rustic Wintergreen Maple Syrup and Pancake Barn in Gelert, near Minden.

For readers, Kaleidoscope was a great opportunity to sample works by some of the many writers who call the Haliburton Highlands home. But for writers, it was an even better chance to learn from one another: what kinds of books were being inspired by the rugged natural beauty of the landscape and who are the people behind the titles? And even more important to me, how are those writers sharing their words with each other and their readers?

Even Margaret Atwood has to promote her books

I saw a range of approaches to direct sales of books and each has benefits and pitfalls. Of course, it’s always a personal choice on how one sets up their sales table. And that choice has to suit the writer. Some writers are painfully shy. I can say this because I am exactly that kind of writer. But I’ve put on my “act outgoing” pants so often now that people think I’m an extrovert. Don’t tell anyone — let’s keep it our little secret.

I toughened up my sales approach after a few years of setting up booths at Word on the Street and Eden Mills Writers Festival. I was there with LICHEN, a jewel of a literary journal I’d helped found and edit. Eventually, I learned to accept people walking past our table, avoiding all eye contact. I no longer took it personally when, after talking up a potential buyer, I watched them put the journal back and walk away. And I quietly celebrated those who bought their own copy.

I watched the writers at Kaleidoscope and recognized the many ways we promote our books:

The Quiet Table

This is the simple “here are my books on display” approach. Just the books. Stacked in an attractive display: cover out, at least one in a stand. The writer stands behind/next to the display, ready to chat with anyone with questions. This is a time-honoured marketing approach. Head to any bookstore and you’ll see lots of those display tables. Readers are attracted to quiet displays.

What you need to remember:

show the price; if there are specials let visitors know (2 for $xx or BOGO 50% off) Yes, it feels weird but it is part of marketing; most people dislike having to “guess the price”

business cards/postcards show readers you’d like to engage, even through an email or note

smile and say hello; it can feel unnatural (and really awkward if they ignore you) but you get used to it

NOTE: A recent article in Write magazine recommended displaying a question to give visitors a topic to engage with you on: “Ask me about…” — especially effective if your book(s) tackle tough or intriguing subjects that you spent time researching

The Audio-Visual Augmented Table

Video is a remarkable tool for marketing. Just like an illustration in a book, a video attracts passers-by through sound and/or images. It’s easily set up on a laptop or tablet that’s tucked in among the books.

At Kaleidoscope, a writer displayed a video of First Nation drumming scenes to share at his table. He did the following and these were exactly what we fellow writers appreciated:

consider your neighbours by watching the volume (but even the fairly low sound attracted visitors from the first floor to climb the stairs and see what was going on the second floor)

avoid constant looping to allow your visitors (and those at other tables) time and space in which to chat

NOTE: check in advance or arrive early to ensure your electronics are close to a power plug AND watch the cord for any tripping hazard (including for you)

The Multiple Offerings Table

Some readers are attracted to busy tables. And many readers are also writers (and that should not surprise you, writer!) so I make it a point to have material on hand for writers. Sometimes a jar of writing tips to reach in and pick from. Sometimes writing prompts. And, of course, I always have the latest on upcoming Writescape retreats.

offer treats or takeaways; even a jar of wrapped candy or bookmark can attract people to your table

define your space with a backdrop/tablecloth or banner (especially effective if you can tie it into the book)

get creative — for a children’s story about a picnic, use a picnic blanket and display copies of the book in a picnic basket along with picnicky items. If it’s a mystery novel, include a Sherlock Holmes cap and magnifying glass, etc.

NOTE: A plastic display stand can hold excerpts of reviews on your books or promote your next reading or event

No matter what kind of salesperson you are, writer, you know that in today’s noisy and crowded marketplace, we need to be prepared to sell our words and find our readership. No matter what, be ready to answer this question: What is your book about? A short one- or two-sentence answer should be on the tip of your tongue.

Like the writing process, marketing your book is a journey. But thankfully, with cooperative sales events like the first-ever Kaleidoscope in the Haliburton Highlands, it’s not a journey we need to take on our own.

DID YOU KNOW

Heather. signing BETTING GAME

Book sales events are just one piece of the marketing pie. Remember that websites and social media can also be a useful tool to introduce readers to your work. Here’s a look at Heather O’Connor’s Top Drawer post on the marketing work she did IN ADVANCE of the launch of her best-selling YA novel, Betting Game.

Invaluable and oh-so-practical advice from a successful author. And, as noted, it’s a journey.

I recently heard from a teen writer who was puzzled about self-publishing. She explained that she was on a committee looking at books to recommend to the Forest of Reading summer program at Ontario libraries. She was especially excited about a book from a local writer and presented it to her committee colleagues to review.

The committee agreed the book was really good and moved it forward as a recommended read to the Ontario Library Association (OLA). But my friend was disappointed to receive an email explaining that the book could not be included. The OLA has a policy to only include traditionally published works in that summer program. A novel, no matter how compelling, couldn’t be on the list if it was self-published by the author.

No matter how you feel about self-publishing versus traditionally published books, the OLA’s policy is not out of line with many organizations. And there is a good historical reason for it: vanity presses.

Feeding the Vanity Machine

Not so long ago, some printing companies called themselves publishers. Writers were attracted to those companies that would quickly publish their manuscripts without long waits to hear from an editor and no questions asked. Writers were guaranteed their book would be published…for a fee, of course. But the writers were confident of being able to sell their finished product. And all the money would go to them, not to some agent or publisher. Once they put out a lot of money to the “publisher.”

It seemed like a great idea.

Of course, the inevitable happened to most of those writers. Basements and garages filled up with boxes of books that, once family and friends had been tapped out, couldn’t be sold to strangers.

Not all vanity publications were in vain

There were amazing success stories: David Chilton’s self-published financial advice book The Wealthy Barber has sold over 2,000,000 copies to date. He even mentored sisters Janet and Greta Podleski, and their Looneyspoons cookbook has sold 850,000 copies to date. Many speakers on the “talk circuits” self-publish companion books that sell very well on the strength of their seminars and workshops.

But they were the exception.

In the past five or so years, the winds have shifted for self-published authors. When Terry Fallis won the 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour forThe Best Laid Plans, and then the 2011 CBC Canada Reads winner, he raised the profile for self-published authors in Canada. Even The Writers’ Union of Canada now accepts memberships from authors of self-published work (applicants must submit their book for review and it must meet professional standards to be accepted.)

It won’t be long before self-published titles are received everywhere with respect.

Make sure your book deserves respect

So you’ve decided to self-publish. Just because you’ve written a great story doesn’t mean it’s ready to go to press. If you truly respect your own work, you need to give it the time and focus it needs and deserves. If you truly respect your reader, ensure that you’re actually giving your reader a great story in great shape. And if you respect yourself as an author, act like you do.

Hire an editor. No, don’t rely on friends or family for this. A professional and skilled editor will help you refine your manuscript to publishable quality: a logical plot, compelling characters and a clean copy for the proofreader. An editor is not concerned with hurting your ego — an editor wants your book to succeed and if that means giving you tough news, well, that’s what will fix this book and make you an even better writer with the next book.

Hire a proofreader. Here you might have friends or family with this skill but understand a proofreader is not just reading your story and looking for oopsies. A proofreader takes a different approach to an editor. A proofreader is looking for transposed numbers. Of chapter headings in slightly different fonts. Of two similar but different spellings of the same name. The things that trick the eye of even the best editor.

Put it into your publishing budget: $800 to $2000 for editing and proofreading.

Things are changing

I’m an assessment volunteer for the Writers’ Union, reading some the self-published books submitted for membership. Some have been pretty darn good.

However, a few have been sadly in need of an editor. And a layout professional. And proofreader. The main criteria for acceptance is “would this book be comparable to a traditionally published book, with evidence of editing and professional appearance/layout?”

More often than not, the answer is yes. And that is heartening.

It means that those vanity presses are not getting as much business. Instead, we see quality book printers who also offer editing services to various levels. We see self-published books from writers who hire editors and proofreaders on their own. We see co-operative publishing ventures, where the cost and profits are shared by the printer and the author, and include editorial supports. That’s a nice balance of respect and a much better business model instead mass printing from unpolished manuscripts.

The publishing world is ever-shifting. How readers access their books is also ever-shifting just as the line between traditional and self-published books is blurring. Ultimately, readers — like my young friend — will set the pace and tone for choosing between those two approaches. And it seems that as long as a book captures a reader’s heart, it won’t matter how it made its way onto the bookshelf.

DID YOU KNOW?

Writescape self-publishes on a regular basis. At our Spring Thaw and Turning Leaves retreats, we prepare a 35-page workbook to support writers on retreat with inspiration, ideas, prompts, tips and helpful information.

When Gwynn and I published Inspiration Station, our “retreat in a paperback”in 2010, we paid for a quality layout and print product. And you can bet that book was edited, proofed and re-proofed before it came off the press.

It’s sold out right now but plans are in the works to bring it out in an electronic version. Stay tuned.

Because we feel that the issue of copyright is so important for all writers, we have chosen to present the latest update on the parliamentary review of the Copyright Act received from Access Copyright in its entirety. This message was sent out to all Access Copyright members on May 25. Please read, share and submit your story to the members of the review committee. It matters for all writers and visual artists…including you!

If you are not sure what the review is all about, read our previous blog Copy that!that explains it all.

Roanie Levy, President & CEO of Access Copyright, appeared before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on May 22nd, as part of the ongoing Copyright Act review.Watch Roanie’s appearance before the Industry Committee (it starts at 16:38:00 of the video).

The session was very well received and based on the nature of the questions that were brought forward by members of the committee, it is clear that the committee is beginning to appreciate that creators and publishers have been significantly harmed since the Copyright Modernization Act was passed.

The outcome of the session is a testament to the hard work that our community has been doing with the INDU Committee. The number of creators and publishers who have shared their personal stories during their recent cross-country tour have made an incredible difference by putting a relatable face to the problem, making it more difficult to ignore.

While this gives us all pause to feel encouraged, it is also critical that we bear down to double up our efforts and keep up the momentum. The opposition is pulling no stops and we can’t afford to either.

Make a submission to the Industry Committee

We encourage everyone to take the time to write a submission to the INDU committee.

Written submissions are meant to be brief and can be as simple as a one-page letter outlining your personal story of impact. They will help to keep reinforcing that Canadian creators and publishers have been hurt economically by 2012 changes to the Copyright Act and that the continued creation of Canadian content is at stake during this review.

The person reading the emails is Michel Marcotte, the clerk of the Industry Committee. The email should be addressed to him.

The email should include your address, email and phone number.

We recommend asking for confirmation of receipt of your submission.

Engage Through I Value Canadian Stories

If you haven’t visited IValueCanadianStories.ca recently, new letters directed at the Committee were added in late April so please take a moment to send one today. You can also get active on social media and encourage your friends to take part.

My Access Copyright notification came the other day to say that the Writers and Artists Payback Claim period for 1997 to 2016 opened on April 1 (closing date is May 31). I’ve also received several updates about the ongoing battle for creator rights in our Canadian Courts and what we as writers can do to help. The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) also sent an update on the court cases and the advocacy they are doing.

I’ve watched my Access Copyright cheque shrink drastically over the last few years because of the education sector’s refusal to pay royalties, as has every other writer. Access Copyright and TWUC, along with other national writers organizations, are working hard on our behalf to address this issue, but ultimately, we the creators should also take action.

I’ll bring you up to date on the legal situation, and tell you how you can help.

What is Access Copyright?

Access Copyright is a non-profit, national organization representing Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers, and the work they create. Access Copyright also partners with similar organizations around the world doing the same thing abroad. Together they represent our creative works when it comes to those who want to copy and share those works in schools, corporations, governments and research situations.

Access Copyright manages the licenses and the collection of licensing fees for copied, shared and remixed content and passes those royalties on to the copyright holders. These royalties have traditionally formed around 20% of writers’ and 16% of publishers’ income. Advocacy around intellectual property is also an important part of the services Access Copyright offers to creators.

Background to the current court action

Prior to an amendment to the Copyright Modernization Act in November 2012 adding “education” as an allowable purpose under fair dealing, the education sector assured Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers they had nothing to be worried about and that this change would not impact their royalty income negatively.

Then in 2013 the ministries of education and post-secondary institutions walked away from long-standing licensing agreements. According to Access Copyright, over 600 million pages are now copied FOR FREE each year by that sector. Education’s new copying policies have devastated royalty income for creators and publishers resulting in a whopping 80% decline.

And it goes further: Course packs containing entire chapters of books, full short stories from collections and anthologies and shared online digital book copies have reduced primary book sales so that publishers receive less and, in turn, writers receive less in royalties from their publishers.

Taking the matter to court

Access Copyright felt it was time to take the matter to court. They sued York University for non-payment of mandatory fees (known as the Interim Tariff) and York counterclaimed that they did not have to pay because their actions constituted “fair dealing” under Fair Dealings Guidelines.

Finally, in 2017, the court ruled in favour of Access Copyright on both claims, but York immediately appealed.

Then at the end of 2017, the Federal Government launched a Parliamentary Review of the Copyright Act. There was now hope that the review would rebalance the law allowing creative professionals to earn the income they were due.

The big surprise, and disappointment, came in February of this year when most of Canada’s provincial education ministries and all of Ontario’s school boards launched legal action against Access Copyright.

It becomes vital now that we make our voices heard by the policy makers conducting the review, so that the legislation can be made stronger to ensure that creators are fairly compensated.

So what can you do to help?

Watch and share this video to learn how present copying practices impact the creation of content for tomorrow’s classrooms, and create a value gap for creators.

Write a letter to your MP urging them to support creators during the ongoing Federal Parliamentary Review. Several of the sites listed in #1 have letter kits to guide you.

Make a personal submission, to the Standing Committees from both Canadian Heritage (CHPC committee) and Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (INDU committee) who have begun considering witnesses and submissions as part of the Parliamentary Review.

Department of Canadian Heritage – Houses the Copyright Policy Branch which, in conjunction with the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate of Industry Canada, is responsible for formulating and implementing an integrated Canadian copyright policy.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada – Houses the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate which, in conjunction with the Copyright Policy Branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage, is responsible for formulating and implementing an integrated Canadian copyright policy.

I’ve been quoted more than once as suggesting “If you don’t submit, you’ll probably never be published.” It’s a good line and one that I’ve used in workshops and networking events. But lately, I’ve been thinking maybe I should take my own advice.

Tania Hershman

I subscribe to a few newsletters, some of which share details on calls for submissions. When Tania Hershman’s ShortStops newsletter arrived today, I took a minute or twenty to look at what U.K. magazines and anthologies are seeking these days. Two themed issues caught my attention and I reviewed what unpublished work I had that might fit the themes. Less than thirty minutes later and I had two submissions crossing the Atlantic and arriving in the U.K. for consideration. Confirmation emails back to me in seconds.

So much easier than the old days of printing the submission, finding the envelope, affixing the stamp, ensuring the S.A.S.E. (self-addressed, stamped envelope) was inside, walking to the mailbox and then patiently waiting six months to hear. I sat in self-satisfied reflection for a couple of minutes.

The mirror doesn’t lie

And then I reflected on my submission record for the past six months. And I didn’t go back more than six months because, well, I know I wasn’t doing much better back then either.

Not too impressive:

One submission two months ago to an agent that was, in fact, a revised submission from what I sent her in late July. Good news is that the agent was quite happy to receive my revision. Bad news is that I’m still waiting.

One submission of three poems to a literary journal last fall.

One poem submitted to an online contest last month.

In other words, not much for a working writer to look back on. Sure, I’ve been busy revising my latest novel manuscript. I’ve also been working as an editor and writing coach and, yes, that is demanding but fulfilling work. However, back when I was commuting to downtown Toronto and pulling in a regular paycheque, I was submitting a lot more of my work. Clearly, I needed a self-kick in the pants.

If you don’t submit, you’ll probably never be published.

Well, that is true. And it is also true that sending your work out carries the risk that it will be rejected. That’s the tough part of being a writer who wants their work to be published. So why have my submissions slowed down? Do I not want my work to be published? Or am I afraid of rejection?

I don’t think it’s really any of the above. I just think my focus had shifted to concentrate on other writers and I kind of left me—the writer me—behind. I’ll also admit that finding the ending for the novel has been a lot tougher than I banked on. While I was making those revisions, I didn’t want to think about short fiction, poetry or plays. I just wanted to reach the finish line.

So now, I’m back in the game. While I won’t be submitting weekly, I’m no longer ignoring the calls for submissions. In the past, I’ve often had unpublished material that worked with a particular theme or publication. And just as often, a call for submissions has sparked a story idea in me.

So I’m going to pay attention and, one way or the other, I’m going to remember that I’m a writer—one who plans to submit and craft new material far more often than she has in past year. How about you?

DID YOU KNOW?

There are plenty of newsletters that can land in your INBOX with calls for submissions inside. Besides Tania Hershman’s ShortStops, here’s a couple more you should consider:

Literistic is based in Victoria, B.C., and offers two monthly submission services. One is free and is what they call their shortlist, arriving monthly with a list of opportunities coming up next month. I subscribe to the shortlist right now but my plan is to upgrade to the annual $58 list. That one is curated to your interests. Here’s how founders Liam Sarsfield and Jessie Jones describe it on their website:

If it’s fiction deadlines for publications that pay and are located in the United States that you’re looking for, well, we’ll keep you on top of those. And if it’s poetry deadlines for publications that pay and don’t have reading fees, that’s no problem, we can keep you on top of those too. Imagine Literistic is your new robotic literary agent (less tweed, more whitespace). You’ll never have to cruise another crappy database again.

Poets & Writers is a U.S. based writers’ magazine. Their weekly newsletter often has submission information. For example, last month’s weekly newsletters included:

57 Upcoming Contest Deadlines (Feb 1)

480 Small Presses Ready To Publish Your Work (Feb 8)

300+ Writers Retreats Where Your Big Book Could Be Born (Feb 15)*

(*Of course, if you really want a writers’ retreat that’s big on book midwifery and writerly support, you can always consider our Spring Thaw at Elmhirst’s Resort on Rice Lake in Ontario: April 20 – 22 or choose the extend your pen option and stay until April 25)

At this time of year, writers across Canada are scrambling to organize their receipts and invoices before filing their income tax. I’ve been preparing taxes for several decades. These are five questions I often get asked by writers and artists.

1. If a writer has a day job and freelances too, can she claim writing expenses?

Yes. A freelance writer earning revenue is considered a small business operator or sole proprietor, and therefore can deduct expenses like any other small business owner. Many people work as an employee at one job and run a business on the side. A freelance writer is no different. And the tax department requires you to declare any and all income you earn worldwide from whatever source.

That said, you will notice that I use the phrase “a freelance writer earning revenue.” If you are writing and submitting but not yet earning income, there are still circumstances when you can be considered to be “running a writing business,” but the tax department has guidelines that differentiate a “hobbyist” from a “small business person” that you should check first.

2. What kinds of expenses can writers claim?

Assuming that you are not considered a “hobbyist”, but are a “small business person,” then you can expense anything that you pay out “to earn revenue.”

Some examples would be: all the usual office type expenses like stationery and computer software and postage; also travel and phone costs for assignments; research expenses; professional fees for accounting; editing, transcribing, researching etc.; advertising; a portion of your computer and photography equipment, professional membership dues, professional development courses, conferences and writing retreats; and resources such as subscriptions to trade magazines.

Some meals and some entertainment expenses can be written off too. If you operate out of your home, you can also consider a “use of home” office expense, and if you use your own car you can consider a motor vehicle expense too. All these expenses, however, have rules and limitations attached, so check the Canada Revenue Agency website for details.

The golden rule is that the expense should be incurred to earn revenue and should be “reasonable in the circumstances.” Trying to write off a $4,000 trip to Paris to write an $800 article is not reasonable. But don’t short-change yourself either. Don’t forget the little things like parking and banking fees and taxis. And keep all your receipts!

3. What are the tax implications of a Canadian writer working with a USA or UK publisher?

Money earned outside Canada will be have tax withheld at source AND must be declared on your Canadian tax return. But, Canada and the USA and UK have “double taxation agreements” in place, so there is a mechanism for you to apply to have your foreign taxes refunded.

4. What are the biggest mistakes you see writers making with their taxes?

Not starting to consider themselves a writing business soon enough. Most writers feel they should either be working full-time at writing to qualify, or that they should be making a profit first.

Also, not keeping receipts. You can’t claim things you have no receipts for, even if you genuinely spent the money on them. A good rule of thumb is to keep all receipts even if you are not sure if the expense qualifies and then decide later.

5. When does a writer need to register for a GST/HST number?

Writers, resident in Canada, are subject to the same requirements as any other self-employed persons or companies when it comes to mandatory GST/HST registration.

So when do you need to register? The simple answer for mandatory registration is: as soon as you hit the $30,000 gross revenue mark.

But it’s not quite that simple. Timing is everything. When you reach that $30,000 threshold is important. You are required to become a GST/HST registrant once you “exceed the small supplier limit of $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or in four consecutive calendar quarters.”

Say, for instance, you’ve only earned $10,000 by the end of November 2017. Then you land a large contract and they pay you on three separate $15,000 invoices: in December 2017, and January and February 2018. You earn $2,000 in March.

At the end of December 2017, your annual revenue [four consecutive calendar quarters] is $25,000 [$15K plus $10K]. You don’t need to register at this point, because you are under the $30,000 threshold.

By the end of March [1st calendar quarter], however, you exceed the $30,000 limit [January $15K + February $15K + March $2K.] Now you must register, even if you remain at the lower earning levels in April and beyond.

You also have the option of voluntary registration at any time. If you are prepared to do the added bookkeeping required, you can voluntarily register and take advantage of recouping any GST/HST you pay out on your expenses. Sometimes too, if you want to give the allusion that you are a bigger operator than you are, you can register and charge HST from day one. The client will likely assume then that you earn over $30,000 a year.

Useful links:

DlD YOU KNOW?

Writing retreats are allowable expenses for a writing business.

And our next retreat on offer from Writescape is Spring Thaw 2018,. April 20 to 24.This all-inclusive writing retreat is held at the fabulous Elmhirst’s Resort on Rice Lake in Keene. Stay for the weekend or treat yourself to an extra two days of writing.

Looking for writing time? Polishing a project? Looking for feedback from two professional editors? Or just want time to rejuvenate your creativity? Don’t miss Spring Thaw.

I’m here to pay a bit of tribute to Ruth Walker. No. Not me. The other one. One of two reasons for the E. in my writing name. The international influence that put the “tentative” in my early writing career. My secret nemisis.

PHOTO: John Nordell / The Christian Science Monitor

Because every time I hit up Google for Ruth Walker (go on…admit it…most of us did it when we started out) there she would be: Ruth Walker. Seasoned journalist and editor. Decades of reporting in the U.S. and abroad (including a stint in Canada), and editing for The Christian Science Monitor.

Sadly, Ruth passed away this past September. The Society of Professional Consultants, of which she was the 2017 President, offers up this as part of her obituary:

[Ruth] served as the Monitor’s deputy editor, editorial-page editor, and online news editor before leaving to pursue a freelance career as a writer, editor, and consultant in 2006. Ruth was currently the author of Verbal Energy, a popular weekly column on language and etymology in the Monitor.

Had they asked Ruth, I suspect she might have suggested that “was currently” could be replaced with “was most recently” but that just proves she and I shared some interests.

Adding ink to your porridge

Here’s another reason to like Ruth. From a January 2010 Verbal Energy column, she takes on the misuse of the apostrophe, referencing The Oatmeal and the delightful spelling and grammar posters you’ll find there. There was no link to the Oatmeal from Ruth Walker’s article in the Monitor, likely due to the decidedly non-PG13 state of some of the work there, but I have no such qualms. Nonetheless, she offers:

Ah, thou apostrophe! Thou useful but so oft misused mark! (The foregoing is an example of apostrophe in another sense: “address to an absent person or personified thing.”)

The Oatmeal opus, in the form of a flow chart, walks the would-be punctuator through some basic if/then steps. “Is it plural? DON’T use an apostrophe.”

The misuse of apostophe also makes me crazy. But I know it’s one of many common errors that editors stumble across. So I really liked the quickie grammar references at the end of her column, “How to be possessive about apostrophes:”

In the Oatmeal spirit of “just enough” grammar, here are some hints to use as editorial first aid until a professional can make it to the scene:

1. If you aren’t absolutely sure about who and whom, go with who. Use of whom in the wrong place looks much worse than failure to use whom in the right place.

2. Forgo and forego are both real words; they mean “give up” and “precede,” respectively. But “forego” (as distinct from foregoing) is almost always wrong. “I will forego you out of the room”? Yeah. Right.

3. Both affect and effect can be either a noun or a verb. But you could probably live your whole life without using effect as a verb or affect as a noun. Many people do – and quite happily, too.

I am only sorry that I didn’t actually read her work until now. I rather like her wit and direct style.

Power in a name

At the beginning of this post, I said that Ruth Walker was one of two reasons for the E. in my professional writer’s name. (possessive, not plural.)

Before I discovered my life as a writer in 1996, I spent a couple of decades in Human Resources. Yes. That department. I had a lot of bosses over the years. Many of them women. Some of them so insecure or poorly trained/supported that they made my working life challenging at best, hellish at worst.

But then In the late-80s (plural, not possessive) the hospital hired a new HR manager. A woman genuinely interested in work-life balance long before it was an HR buzzword. A revelation, in fact.

My boss demonstrated the best kind of management qualities for the women and men in her various departments: mentoring and modelling in a positive and instructive manner. I learned how to ask with confidence. She nudged me forward, until I discovered I could actually talk in front of groups without fainting. And I learned that kindness and empathy could open doors in even the most difficult situations.

She was the most self-assured manager I’d ever worked for, so I looked for all the ways she pulled it off. I believed (and still do) that one of her secrets was to use her middle initial in her professional capacity. It was, to me, something of a statement, a Here I am world, more than Mary Smith. I’m Mary D. Smith. How many times in my clerical years had I seen men use their middle initials on the letters I’d typed for them? Lots. And the women? Never. Not until this boss.

Taking on the power

As soon as I had the opportunity to establish myself professionally, I considered the E. I, too, would make that statement. Finding another well-known and respected Ruth Walker in the world of writing sealed the deal.

So there you have it. The desire to be someone different from a noted writer and editor, coupled with my nervousness when I first started writing, drove me to my middle initial. Do I regret it? Not one bit. On the one hand, I feel like I’m honouring a woman who stood out as a wonderful model to the other women in her orbit. And on the other hand, I wanted to stand out in the art of words among other Ruth Walkers as me, the one with the E.

Did You Know?

Many writers choose not to publish under their own names, using pseudonyms instead. Their reasons for writing with a pen name are as diverse as their narrative voices. Some, like 19th century French novelist and memoirist Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin wrote under the name George Sand. Canadian author and filmmaker Leslie McFarlane wrote 20 of the Hardy Boys adventure series as Franklin W. Dixon. When he moved on, the Dixon name continued under a series of other Hardy Boys writers.

At our most recent retreat, participants were given a series of clues at every meal, all leading to the final clue and answer. It seemed fitting as our Turning Leaves guest author, Vicki Delany, writes mysteries and thrillers. The answer to each clue was a pen name for a famous author. From Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) to Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling), participants were challenged to use their sleuthing skills to discover the answers.

At each retreat, we find ways to stretch your thinking and take you outside of the box. Next retreat: Spring Thaw, April 20 – 22/25, 2018.